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The young man asked the old Buddhist monk,“If there are 64,000 gates, how willI know through which I should enter.”The monk paused, considered the question, then smiled broadly.“Why would you want to enter any gate?”the monk said with a wink.The young man replied, “because theyare the gates that lead to the dharma,and that will lead to enlightenment,so of course I want to enter the right one!”“That is your mistake,” the monkgently added, for there is no right gate,they are all right gates, but your problemis you want to go in through the gate,but you must go out from where you are,for that is how you enter the dharma.”

There will come a timeshe says, when all of thiswill matter greatly, the questionis how you will knowthat moment has arrived.I assume, he said, it willannounce itself, or at leastmake its presence known.No doubt, she replied, youwill search for it, butjust like me, youwill find it gone.

If the time is nowhow will we know it.And if we miss ithow will we knowwhat the consequences are?The better questionis whether it mattersfor if we can bein each momentto the extent possiblethen nothing is missedand every moment is nowand there is nevera forgotten memory.

There is muchyou would askthe Buddhaand so littlehe would tell you.But at the momentthat you fall silent,when your last questionslips awayand you have no request –in that momentthe Buddha will speakfreely and providethe answerto unthought-of questions.

The question is a simple one, really,but not one you were expecting, whichis why you sit and grapple for an answer.Ask yourself, what if no answer is needed,what if there is no answer, can you remain silent, or will you feel somehowincomplete if you do not respond?All answers are correct, but beware,for all answers are incorrect as well.Now consider the question again, carefully,what do you respond when you are asked once again, insistently, “who are you?”Be very careful for if you gazeinto a mirror you will see someone elseand if you say that person is you,you will most certainly disappear.

He is certain he has the answerand is imply waiting for someoneto ask the correct question. He knows he cannot be wrongFor if the answer seems soit is only because the wrongquestion was asked, and thatwould hardly be his fault. He tells people this, asking that they carefully considerwhat the right question would be. Eventually someone alwaysgets it right, merely asks“Are you crazy?” to whichhe responds, “isn’t it obvious?”